In the Maze of Self-Control and Self-Regulation: Taking into Account Self-Ratings, Executive Functions, Heart Rate Variability, and Action-State Orientation Von der Pädagogischen Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) angenommene Dissertation von Daniel Groß aus Ludwigsburg Schwäbisch Gmünd, 2020 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Carl-Walter Kohlmann Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Andreas Schwerdtfeger Fach: Pädagogische Psychologie und Gesundheitspsychologie Abgabetermin der Dissertation: 30.09.2020 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. Titus 2:6 New International Version (NIV) Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. Proverbs 25:28 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galater 5:22–23 NIV Content LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ix References............................................................................................................................ xiv GENERAL INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 1. Beginnings of self-control measurement and the importance of childhood self-control for future outcomes ................................................................................................................. 2 2. Constructs, variables, and ratings to measure self-control and self-regulation ............... 4 2.1. Trait self-control and impulsivity ............................................................................ 6 2.2. State self-control ...................................................................................................... 9 2.3. Executive functions ................................................................................................ 11 2.4. Heart rate variability .............................................................................................. 15 2.5. Association between different self-control variables and ratings, and their predictive power. ............................................................................................................... 17 3. Theories and moderators of self-control and self-regulation ........................................ 20 3.1. Depletion of state self-control ................................................................................ 20 3.2. Action-state orientation .......................................................................................... 23 3.3. Combination of variables to determine self-control .............................................. 26 4. Training of self-control and self-regulation .................................................................. 28 4.1. Executive functions (including working memory capacity) .................................. 29 4.2. Heart rate variability .............................................................................................. 31 4.3. Action-state orientation .......................................................................................... 33 5. Overview of the studies ................................................................................................. 36 5.1. Study 1: Executive functions and heart rate variability ......................................... 36 5.2. Study 2: Self-control capacity ................................................................................ 37 5.3. Study 3: Interventions to increase heart rate variability ........................................ 38 6. References general introduction .................................................................................... 39 STUDY 1 .................................................................................................................................. 81 STUDY 2 .................................................................................................................................. 82 STUDY 3 .................................................................................................................................. 83 Abstract ................................................................................................................................. 84 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 85 i 1.1. Resonance frequency training ................................................................................ 85 1.2. Progressive muscle relaxation ................................................................................ 87 1.3. Present study .......................................................................................................... 88 2.1. Participants ............................................................................................................. 89 2.2. Ethical consideration .............................................................................................. 89 2.3. Heart rate variability measurement ........................................................................ 89 2.4. Intervention groups and active control group ........................................................ 90 2.5. Data analyzing and processing ............................................................................... 91 4. Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 96 4.1. Limitations and some further proposals for subsequent studies ............................ 97 5. References ..................................................................................................................... 99 GENERAL DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 106 1. Summary of the studies ............................................................................................... 106 1.1. Study 1: Executive functions and heart rate variability ....................................... 106 1.2. Study 2: Self-control capacity .............................................................................. 108 1.3. Study 3: Interventions to increase heart rate variability ...................................... 110 2. Final statement ............................................................................................................ 112 3. References general discussion ..................................................................................... 115 ii LIST OF TABLES LIST OF TABLES GENERAL INTRODUCTION Table 1. Example Items of the Three Relatively Frequently Used Self-Control Scales. ............ 7 Table 2. Basic Executive Functions (EFs) and their Measure. ................................................ 14 STUDY 3 Table 1. Linear Mixed-Effect Model, using Resting HRV (ln RMSSD) as the Criterion. ........ 94 iii LIST OF BOXES LIST OF BOXES GENERAL INTRODUCTION Box 1. Five Factors of Impulsivity (Stahl et al., 2014). ............................................................. 9 Box 2. Item Examples of the Three Action Control Subscales (Kuhl, 1994b). ....................... 24 iv LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF FIGURES ABSTRACT Figure 1. Graphical overview of Study 1; only the interactions are shown. .......................... x Figure 2. Graphical overview of Study 2; only the interactions are shown. ......................... xi Figure 3. Graphical overview of Study 3. ............................................................................ xii Figure 4. Graphical overview of the expected associations for all three studies; only the interactions are shown. ............................................................................................................ xiii GENERAL INTRODUCTION Figure 1. Example of a Simon task, a Stroop task, or a Flanker task. .................................. 10 STUDY 3 Figure 1. Time-varying effects of each group (dual-task; PMR = progressive muscle relaxation; RFT = average resonance frequency training); HRV = heart rate variability; Day = daily HRV measurement; grey shades correspond to the 95% confidence interval, respectively. .............................................................................................................................. 93 Figure 2. Daily HRV measurement of each participant; the graph also includes the individual linear equation (random effects) of each participant............................................... 95 GENERAL DISCUSSION Figure 1. Graphical overview of Study 1; only the interactions are shown; significant interactions are shown with solid lines; the significant interactions became significant mainly because of the state-oriented individuals since the Johnson Neyman tests were not significant for action-oriented individuals. .............................................................................................